Amanda Shafer Berman

Partner | She/Her/Hers

Partner | She/Her/Hers

Washington, D.C.
- D
  +1.202.688.3451

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Areas of Focus

Overview
Representative Matters
Insights
Related Practices/Industries

Overview

Recognized for her excellence in briefing and oral advocacy, Amanda Berman is co-leader of the firm’s Appellate Practice and a go-to litigator for mission critical cases. Amanda has argued over 25 cases in the federal appellate courts, covering most circuits, in addition to handling many cases in federal district court. Amanda has particular experience with regulatory cases and administrative law challenges to agency action in both the appellate and district courts. She has successfully challenged and defended agency rules and other executive actions under the Administrative Procedures Act and other federal laws. Amanda has also brought and defended against a wide range of constitutional claims.

Amanda regularly advises and litigates for higher education clients, which must navigate a maze of federal and state regulatory obligations, including in regard to diversity and gender-related policies and issues. Amanda has defended universities against private suits, asserting claims ranging from violation of federal and state anti-discrimination laws to breach of contract. She also advises educational institutions on how to respond to new federal directives and threats of adverse action by the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, and other federal or state regulators.

Prior to joining Crowell & Moring in 2019, Amanda was a senior attorney at the Department of Justice, where she briefed and argued seminal regulatory cases in the appellate courts, including defending the first greenhouse gas regulations and the Clean Power Plan before the en banc D.C. Circuit.

Amanda is a five-time recipient of the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Excellence and was a longtime member of the D.C. Circuit’s Advisory Committee. She is a member of the bar of the Supreme Court, most federal Courts of Appeals, various district courts, New York, and Washington, D.C.

Career & Education

Department of Justice: Environment and Natural Resources Division
Senior Attorney, Environmental Defense Section, 2009–2019
- Department of Justice: Environment and Natural Resources Division
  Senior Attorney, Environmental Defense Section, 2009–2019
Johns Hopkins University, B.A., cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 2001
Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., cum laude, 2004
- Johns Hopkins University, B.A., cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 2001
- Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., cum laude, 2004
District of Columbia
New York
Supreme Court of the United States
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- District of Columbia
- New York
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Professional Activities and Memberships

Appointed to the D.C. Circuit’s Advisory Committee on Procedures, 2017–2020

Adjunct Professor at Howard University School of Law, 2007–2013
Professional Activities and Memberships
- Appointed to the D.C. Circuit’s Advisory Committee on Procedures, 2017–2020
- Adjunct Professor at Howard University School of Law, 2007–2013

[Amanda is] a very strong advocate and a terrific brief writer…a stellar writer who crystallizes complex issues into simple, digestible sentences.

— Chambers USA

Amanda's Insights

Press Coverage | 07.01.25

High Court Injunction Ruling Slows Environment Suits to a Crawl

Client Alert | 2 min read | 06.18.25
Crowell’s DEI and Civil Fraud Initiative
Firm News | 11 min read | 06.05.25
Crowell Attains Leading Rankings in Chambers USA 2025
Client Alert | 5 min read | 06.02.25
Supreme Court Emphasizes Agency Deference in NEPA Review

View All Insights

Representative Matters

Climate, Energy, and Environmental

Arguing on behalf of an aircraft manufacturer before the D.C. Circuit in litigation addressing the EPA’s first-ever greenhouse gas regulations for commercial planes.
Defense of a municipal water authority client’s expansion of a hydropower project, dam, and reservoir in district court and before the 10th Circuit.
Arguing successfully on behalf of several major chemical companies in defense of EPA pesticide registration decisions before the 9th and D.C. Circuits.

Appellate and Administrative Law

Challenging and defending, on behalf of an ERISA plan administrator, a series of district court decisions regarding mental health benefits claims before the Tenth Circuit.
Successfully defending, in the 5th Circuit, a favorable decision below on behalf of a major beverage company in a trademark suit.
Barring application of USTR and Presidential actions seeking to apply tariffs to utility-grade solar panels through litigation at the Court of International Trade, and defense of the CIT’s decision in our client’s favor before the Federal Circuit.
Successfully arguing before the 4th Circuit on behalf of an asylum-seeker, resulting in a precedential decision addressing several important points of immigration law.

Education

Representing an Ivy League university in challenges to student disciplinary decisions brought under Title IX in federal district court.
Submitting a Supreme Court amicus brief on behalf of HBCU leaders arguing in support of allowing some consideration of race in university admissions decisions.
Advising a financial institution that supports the Department of Education in responding to inquiries from state regulators.
Representing an HBCU in defending Title VI, contract, and other claims in federal court.